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<body class="article">
<div id="content">
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="0">Libre Software in Africa</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="#26">↓</a><a href="#1">→</a></p>
</div>
<h3 id="_benson_muite" class="discrete">Benson Muite</h3>
<h4 id="_httpsnotabug_orgtuvutepamoja" class="discrete"><a href="https://notabug.org/tuvutepamoja" class="bare">https://notabug.org/tuvutepamoja</a></h4>
<div style="page-break-after: always;"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="1">Outline</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="#0">←</a><a href="#2">→</a></p>
</div>
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p>Background</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Digitization and Libre Software</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Language Data, Machine Learning and Privacy</p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="page-break-after: always;"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="2">Introduction</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="#1">←</a><a href="#3">→</a></p>
</div>
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p>Africa</p>
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p>1.39 billion people <a href="#WEA">[WEA]</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p>$2260 Nominal GDP per capita <a href="#WEA">[WEA]</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p>3.9% Real Economic GDP growth rate <a href="#WEA">[WEA]</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p>10.7% of households have a computer <a href="#ITUFF19">[ITUFF19]</a></p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="page-break-after: always;"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="3">Overview of Internet Connectivity</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="#2">←</a><a href="#4">→</a></p>
</div>
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p>0.4 fixed broadband internet subscriptions per 100 people <a href="#ITUFF19">[ITUFF19]</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p>34.8 active mobile internet subscriptions per 100 people <a href="#ITUFF19">[ITUFF19]</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p>17.8% of households have internet access <a href="#ITUFF19">[ITUFF19]</a></p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="page-break-after: always;"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="4">Percent Individuals Using the Internet</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="#3">←</a><a href="#5">→</a></p>
</div>
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p>Percent of individuals in each country using the internet in 2021 <a href="#ITUDH">[ITUDH]</a></p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="data/ICT/PIUI_Africa.svg" alt="Map showing percent individuals using the internet by country in Africa in 2021">
</div>
</div>
<div style="page-break-after: always;"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="5">Mobile Broadband Bandwidth Subscriptions</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="#4">←</a><a href="#6">→</a></p>
</div>
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p>Mobile broadband bandwidth subscriptions per 100 people in 2021 <a href="#ITUDH">[ITUDH]</a></p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="data/ICT/MBS_Africa.svg" alt="Map showing mobile bandwidth subscriptions by country in Africa in 2021">
</div>
</div>
<div style="page-break-after: always;"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="6">Fixed Broadband Bandwidth Subscriptions</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="#5">←</a><a href="#7">→</a></p>
</div>
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p>Fixed broadband bandwidth subscriptions per 100 people <a href="#ITUDH">[ITUDH]</a></p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="data/ICT/FBS_Africa.svg" alt="Map showing fixed broadband bandwidth subscriptions by country in Africa in 2020">
</div>
</div>
<div style="page-break-after: always;"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="7">Language Diversity</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="#6">←</a><a href="#8">→</a></p>
</div>
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p>Continent with largest language diversity</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>2000-3000 languages</p>
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p>Language Diversity Index <a href="#WLDI">[WLDI]</a></p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="data/Language/LDI_Africa.svg" alt="Language Diversity Index">
</div>
</div>
<div style="page-break-after: always;"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="8">Gross Domestic Product</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="#7">←</a><a href="#9">→</a></p>
</div>
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p>Per capita GDP 2021 in US$</p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="data/GDP/GDP_PCAP_Africa.svg" alt="Map showing per capita GDP by country in Africa in 2021">
</div>
</div>
<div style="page-break-after: always;"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="9">Gross Domestic Product Growth Rate</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="#8">←</a><a href="#10">→</a></p>
</div>
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p>Per capita GDP growth rate in 2021</p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="data/GDP/GDP_PCAP_GROWTH_Africa.svg" alt="Map showing per capita GDP growth rates by country in Africa in 2021">
</div>
</div>
<div style="page-break-after: always;"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="10">Education</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="#9">←</a><a href="#11">→</a></p>
</div>
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p>Adult literacy rate <a href="#WBLR">[WBLR]</a></p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="data/Education/LR_Africa.svg" alt="Map showing percentage literacy rates by country in Africa">
</div>
</div>
<div style="page-break-after: always;"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="11">Infrastructure</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="#10">←</a><a href="#12">→</a></p>
</div>
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p>Significant infrastructure investments</p>
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p>Roads</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Telecommunications</p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</li>
<li>
<p>Some foreign investment to improve trade</p>
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p>Natural resource extraction</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Labor</p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/infrastructure.svg" alt="Image of a road and a cell phone tower" width="200" height="150">
</div>
</div>
<div style="page-break-after: always;"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="12">Digitization Challenges</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="#11">←</a><a href="#13">→</a></p>
</div>
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p>Local needs secondary</p>
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p>Addressing local needs required for successful digitization</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Succesful adaptation of radio for information dissemination</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>More needed for internet and computers</p>
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p>Due to costs, schools and internet cafes are first contact points</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Smart phones are the secondary contact point</p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/local.svg" alt="Image of a confused person being greeted in English and a happy understanding person begin greeted in Igbo" width="300" height="120">
</div>
</div>
<div style="page-break-after: always;"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="13">Challenges of Libre Software</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="#12">←</a><a href="#14">→</a></p>
</div>
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p>Poorly marketed</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Governance is often unclear</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Poor incorporation in legal and procurement systems</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Relatively high barriers to involvement when primary community is external</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Large time investment required to understand well</p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/challenges.svg" alt="Image showing advertisement of GNU on radio and a scale comparing GNU in an open box with a closed unknown box" width="350" height="200">
</div>
</div>
<div style="page-break-after: always;"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="14">Opportunities Provided by Libre Software</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="#13">←</a><a href="#15">→</a></p>
</div>
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p>Auditable</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Easy to adapt and update</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Community driven learning</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Many packages that work well on limited hardware resources</p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/community.svg" alt="Image showing a village with 4 huts and 6 GNUs" width="250" height="250">
</div>
</div>
<div style="page-break-after: always;"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="15">Challenges of Mobile First</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="#14">←</a><a href="#16">→</a></p>
</div>
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p>Low memory and low performance devices</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Privacy is challenging</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Mindset is usually that of software consumer not co-creator</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Wide variety of device capabilities</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Technological ecosystem is designed elsewhere</p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/mobilefirst.svg" alt="Image of a mobile phone before a laptop computer" width="200" height="150">
</div>
</div>
<div style="page-break-after: always;"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="16">Opportunities of Mobile First</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="#15">←</a><a href="#17">→</a></p>
</div>
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p>Cloud can overcome some deficiencies</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Large potential user base</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Opportunity to develop new use cases - mobile money</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Can reuse old libre software designed for older computers</p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/mobilefirst.svg" alt="Image of a mobile phone before a laptop computer" width="200" height="150">
</div>
</div>
<div style="page-break-after: always;"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="17">Collecting Machine Learning Language Data</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="#16">←</a><a href="#18">→</a></p>
</div>
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p>English, French and Arabic are dominant official languages</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Many other languages primarily used orally</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>A starting point is collecting a corpus suitable for early education</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Enable translation of commonly used terms</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Enable easy engagement</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Motivates an online short story competition</p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="page-break-after: always;"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="18">Evaluating Machine Learning Language Data</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="#17">←</a><a href="#19">→</a></p>
</div>
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p>Language experts are few</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Community consensus for many languages is missing</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Use a voting system, if you submit you can rate</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Voting privacy and anonymity is challenging</p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="page-break-after: always;"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="19">What Language Data Was Collected?</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="#18">←</a><a href="#20">→</a></p>
</div>
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p>Submissions by language for the competitions</p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="data/CompetitionStatistics/Submissions.svg" alt="Stacked bar chart showing submissions in two competitions by language" width="400" height="300">
</div>
</div>
<div style="page-break-after: always;"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="20">Where can the Stories be Read?</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="#19">←</a><a href="#21">→</a></p>
</div>
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p>Countries where stories can be read</p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="data/CompetitionStatistics/LanguagesInCountry.svg" alt="Map of countries in Africa colored by the number of languages in which submitted stories can be read" width="500" height="400">
</div>
</div>
<div style="page-break-after: always;"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="21">Using Machine Learning Language Data</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="#20">←</a><a href="#22">→</a></p>
</div>
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p>Language Learning Games</p>
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p><a href="https://tuvutepamoja.africa/Igbo-Wordle/" class="bare">https://tuvutepamoja.africa/Igbo-Wordle/</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://tuvutepamoja.africa/Kinyarwanda-Wordle" class="bare">https://tuvutepamoja.africa/Kinyarwanda-Wordle</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://tuvutepamoja.africa/Kiswahili-Wordle" class="bare">https://tuvutepamoja.africa/Kiswahili-Wordle</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://tuvutepamoja.africa/Setswana-Wordle/" class="bare">https://tuvutepamoja.africa/Setswana-Wordle/</a></p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="page-break-after: always;"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="22">Relevant Libre Software</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="#21">←</a><a href="#23">→</a></p>
</div>
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p>Data collection platform <a href="https://tuvutapamoja.africa" class="bare">https://tuvutapamoja.africa</a></p>
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p>Open source <a href="https://notabug.org/tuvutepamoja" class="bare">https://notabug.org/tuvutepamoja</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Written in PHP</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Easy to deploy on shared hosting</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Soft keyboard to enable correct orthography</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Minimize some of the privacy concerns</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Hard to find libre shared hosting</p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="page-break-after: always;"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="23">Keyboards</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="#22">←</a><a href="#24">→</a></p>
</div>
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p>Easy customization possible today</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>More difficult on typewriters</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Open source projects include</p>
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p><a href="https://keyman.com" class="bare">https://keyman.com</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/XKeyboardConfig/" class="bare">https://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/XKeyboardConfig/</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://github.com/eyedol/kasahorow-Keyboard-For-Android" class="bare">https://github.com/eyedol/kasahorow-Keyboard-For-Android</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://giellalt.github.io/" class="bare">https://giellalt.github.io/</a></p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="page-break-after: always;"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="24">Summary</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="#23">←</a><a href="#25">→</a></p>
</div>
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p>Libre software can do well in Africa</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Largest challenges are mindset and regulation</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>አመሰግናለሁ
ﺶﻛﺭﺍ
Asante
Daalụ
Dankie
Enkosi
Godiya
Kea leboha
Mahadsanid
Murakoze
Ndatenda
Ngiyabonga
O ṣeun
Zikomo</p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="imageblock">
<div class="content">
<img src="images/GNUAfrica.svg" alt="Image of red letters GNU in Africa" width="250" height="200">
</div>
</div>
<div style="page-break-after: always;"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="25">Acknowledgements</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="#24">←</a><a href="#26">→</a></p>
</div>
<div class="ulist">
<ul>
<li>
<p>William Agbo, Liané Van Den Bergh, Audrey Mbogho,</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Paulin Melatagia, Cascious Mofokeng, Afia Obinim,</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Itaru Ohta, Kevin Scannell, Juan Steyn, Benito Trollip,</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Lilian Wanzare, Constantine Yuka</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.idrc.ca/">International Research Development Center</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.k4all.org">Knowledge for all</a></p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="page-break-after: always;"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sect1">
<h2 id="26">Bibliography</h2>
<div class="sectionbody">
<div class="paragraph">
<p><a href="#25">←</a><a href="#0">↑ </a></p>
</div>
<div class="ulist bibliography">
<ul class="bibliography">
<li>
<p><a id="WEA"></a>[WEA] <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Africa">Wikipedia Economy of Africa</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a id="WLDI"></a>[WLDI] <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistic_diversity_index">Wikipedia Linguistic Diversity Index</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a id="WBLR"></a>[WBLR] <a href="https://api.worldbank.org/v2/en/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.ZS?downloadformat=csv">World Bank: Adult Literacy Rates</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a id="ITUFF19"></a>[ITUFF19] <a href="https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Documents/facts/FactsFigures2019.pdf">ITU Facts and Figures 2019</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a id="ITUDH"></a>[ITUDH] <a href="https://datahub.itu.int/">ITU DataHub</a></p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
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